A1 · Pronouns
मेरा, तुम्हारा, आपका: possessives that agree
possessive pronouns
My, your, his and her agree with the thing owned, not with the owner — like an adjective in -ā.
At a glance
- Remember
- Mera, meri, mere look at what is owned, never at who owns it.
- Form
- मेरा, मेरी, मेरेmy
- Signal words
- मेरा
- हमारा
- तुम्हारा
- आपका
- उसका
- उनका
- Trap
- Wrong:मेरा बहन लंदन में रहती है।Right:मेरी बहन लंदन में रहती है।
Your turn
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
The patterns at a glance
Each row first says when or what the pattern is used for, then gives an example in Hindi.
| my | मेरा, मेरी, मेरे |
| our | हमारा, हमारी, हमारे |
| your (तुम) | तुम्हारा, तुम्हारी, तुम्हारे |
| your (आप) | आपका, आपकी, आपके |
| his, her, its | इसका, उसका |
| their; his or her with respect | इनका, उनका |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
The possessive agrees with the thing owned, not with the owner.
मेरी गाड़ी नीली है।My car is blue. (a man speaking)
उसका can mean his or her; the context tells.
उसका भाई पुलिस में है।Her brother is in the police.
Before a masculine plural or a postposition, -ā becomes -e.
मेरे कमरे में आइए।Please come into my room.
For a respected person, use उनका, even for one.
उनकी बेटी डॉक्टर है।His daughter is a doctor.
Example sentences
मेरा नाम सारा है।My name is Sarah.
हमारी टीम जीत गई।Our team won.
तुम्हारे जूते कहाँ हैं?Where are your shoes?
आपका घर बहुत सुंदर है।Your house is very beautiful.
उसकी माँ अध्यापिका हैं।His mother is a teacher.
उनके घर में तीन कमरे हैं।There are three rooms in their house.
6 more example sentences
मेरे दोस्त आज आ रहे हैं।My friends are coming today.
आपकी चाय ठंडी हो रही है।Your tea is getting cold.
उसका फ़ोन बंद है।His phone is switched off.
हमारे गाँव में एक नदी है।There is a river in our village.
यह तुम्हारी किताब है?Is this your book?
इसका रंग अच्छा है।Its colour is nice.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
A man speaking thinks of himself and reaches for the masculine मेरा. But the possessive looks at the sister, not at the speaker, and a sister is feminine: मेरी बहन, from anyone.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
The possessives are मेरा (my), हमारा (our), तेरा and तुम्हारा (your, intimate and familiar), आपका (your, polite), इसका and उसका (his, her, its), इनका and उनका (their, or his and her with respect).
All of them end in -ा and change like an adjective: -ाbefore a masculine singular noun-ीbefore any feminine noun-ेbefore a masculine plural and before any masculine noun followed by a postposition मेरा भाई, मेरी बहन, मेरे भाई(my brothers)मेरे भाई को(to my brother)
The agreement is with the thing owned, never with the owner. A man says मेरी गाड़ी, because गाड़ी is feminine; a woman says मेरा घर, because घर is masculine. That is also why उसका means both “his” and “her”: उसकी माँ is his mother or her mother, and only the context says which.
Respect works as everywhere: for one respected person the possessive is the plural उनका, and a respected relative takes the plural form too: मेरे पिताजी, उनकी बेटी.
A closer look
Why उसकी माँ can be his mother
English chooses his or her by the owner. Hindi chooses उसका or उसकी by the thing owned. So उसकी माँ is “his or her mother”, feminine because of the mother, and उसका भाई “his or her brother”. Who the owner is comes from the context, exactly as it does for English “their”.
A possessive is का in disguise
The possessives are the pronoun with the postposition का, fused: आप + का is आपका, उस + का is उसका. मेरा, हमारा and तुम्हारा are older fusions that no longer look like it. That is why they agree exactly as का, की, के do.
Worth knowing (2)
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तेरा with तू
The intimate तू has its own possessive, तेरा, तेरी, तेरे, with the same warning: close friends and small children only.
तेरा नाम क्या है?What’s your name? (to a small child)
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Respected relatives
Speaking of a parent or another older relative, the possessive and the verb are plural: मेरे पिताजी, मेरी माँ … हैं.
मेरे पिताजी बैंक में काम करते हैं।My father works in a bank.
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